April 27, 2006

DRUDGE / KOS UPDATE: I was a bit skeptical about the Drudge numbers on Kos’s book, and it turns out I was right to be. A publishing insider sends me some info that makes Drudge look kind of bad. Click “read more” for it. The gist is that Kos isn’t doing all that badly — and that Drudge isn’t in any position to point fingers.

UPDATE: On the other hand, Radio Equalizer claims that Drudge understated Air America’s problems.

Info (and analysis from my insider) follows:
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Kos article
Kos numbers
CRASHING THE GATE
Hardback (March 2006): 4,402
Kos on Amazon
Drudge numbers
DRUDGE MANIFESTO
Paperback (Sept 2001): 5,026
Hardback (Oct 2000): 1,937
Drudge on Amazon
Going price: $0.01
Observation: First his [Drudge's] numbers are old. Next, the average nonfiction book sells around 5000 units in its lifetime. Not even two months old yet, Kos’s book clearly is on the way for better than average. Drudge says the book is stalled, yet it’s selling around 700 copies a week right now. That won’t hit the NYT list, but it doesn’t suck, and it’s not stalled. If Kos keeps the energy up on the book it could sell more than 30,000 at the end of a year—and that’s just hardback. I’d be surprised if it happens. 15,000-to-18,000 is more like it. But that’s very respectable. Drudge should know better than to report a decently selling book as stalled. As it stands, he’s misreporting the situation.
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So there you have it. What's exciting to me is discovering that my last book, which was well-reviewed but no barn-burner saleswise, nonetheless outsold Drudge.

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